“I’ve given the Lord control of my life. Now I know He has a plan for me.”
Leah has known few moments of peace in her life. From the time she was a little girl, she struggled with anxiety and depression that grew worse over the years, causing crippling headaches. “I was diagnosed with anxiety at 16 and put on medications. But they caused severe side effects, so my parents made me stop taking them.”
When she was 19, Leah began self-medicating her anxiety with drugs and alcohol, and for nearly 40 years she struggled with addiction. “I ruined two marriages, put my kids through so much pain, and disappointed God over and over again,” she says.
Finally, Leah wound up homeless, living in an abandoned warehouse. “I was miserable. I knew it wasn’t the right way to be living. I said, ‘I’m going to the Mission. I know that’s what God wants me to do.’”
Leah entered our Women’s Division Life Recovery Program, where chapel services and Bible studies led her to surrender her life to the Lord. “I’d always believed Jesus died for me, but I’d never made Him the Lord of my life until I came here,” she says.
“God is at work in this place.”
Through counseling and life skills classes, Leah has found emotional healing and developed healthy coping skills. “I had a negative pattern of behavior, and we did a lot of digging to find out where it came from. Then I gave it to God.”
She’s looking forward to graduating from the program, getting her own place, and spending time with her family. “My kids are very proud of me. God has done wonders in our relationships,” she says.
“I was lost and confused, but now I have a personal relationship with the Lord. I’ve given Him control of my life and I know He has a plan for me.”
